Gou Zai created a blessed land in the immortal abode

As if sensing something, Li Chengming slowly opened his eyes and turned his gaze to the multi-story ship.

He frowned slightly as he gazed at the flag on the large ship.

"The Zhou family."

Before coming here, he learned about the distribution of power in this area. The Zhou family is the largest cultivation family in the middle reaches of the Yuanjiang River. There are two late-stage Qi Refining cultivators in the family who control the waterways of the Yuanjiang River for hundreds of miles.

Not wanting to cause trouble, Li Chengming concealed his aura and sat quietly on the reef, pretending to be an inconspicuous rogue cultivator.

However, the ship stopped a hundred feet away from him.

A young cultivator emerged from behind the middle-aged man. He was in his early twenties, with a cultivation level of the seventh level of Qi Refining. He wore a brocade robe, had a fair complexion, and his eyes held a hint of arrogance.

He glanced at Li Chengming, then turned and said a few words to the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man nodded slightly, and the young cultivator leaped off the ship, walked on water, and flew to Li Chengming's side.

"A rogue cultivator?" The young cultivator looked him down casually.

Li Chengming stood up and cupped his hands in greeting: "I am Li Chengming. I am just passing through and would like to borrow your esteemed place to cultivate for a few days."

"Borrowing land to practice?"

The young cultivator smirked slightly. "Do you know that the entire Yuanjiang River, stretching for hundreds of miles, is part of the Zhou family's territory?"

Li Chengming's expression remained unchanged: "I am new here and unaware of this custom. Please forgive me. If the Zhou family has its own rules, I will certainly offer some spirit stones as a token of my gratitude."

The young cultivator was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Li Chengming to be so sensible.

He glanced back at the ship; the middle-aged man remained standing with his hands behind his back, offering no comment. He then turned back and asked:

"Which sect are you from? Are you a rogue cultivator or a member of a clan?"

"A rogue cultivator," Li Chengming replied.

Although he was a guest minister in the Kong family, the situation in Youyang County has changed drastically, so it is more convenient to say that he was a rogue cultivator.

Upon hearing this, a hint of contempt flashed in the young cultivator's eyes. In his view, rogue cultivators were nothing more than rootless duckweed, not worth mentioning.

"You seem to know the rules."

The young cultivator casually pulled a token from his sleeve and tossed it to Li Chengming.

"This is a temporary pass, allowing you to stay in the middle reaches of the Yuan River for one month at a cost of fifty spirit stones."

Fifty spirit stones were undoubtedly expensive, but to avoid trouble, Li Chengming accepted the token, took out fifty spirit stones from his storage bag, and handed them over.

The young cultivator accepted the spirit stones, glanced at him again, and suddenly asked:

"What rank of your cultivation technique are you practicing?"

Li Chengming felt a chill run down his spine, but his face remained impassive.

"Second rank."

The young cultivator nodded. "Alright, don't wander off. There are many rules on Zhou family territory. If you cause trouble, no one will protect you."

Li Chengming watched the ship sail away, put away his token, and sat back down on the reef.

Fifty spirit stones are nothing to him now; it's worth it to buy peace of mind.

However, the young cultivator's parting words made him more wary.

The Zhou family's control over Yuanjiang was far more stringent than he had imagined.

His cultivation here will probably not be peaceful.

But right now, the most important thing is to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining. As for the rest, we'll take it one step at a time.

Li Chengming closed his eyes and continued to immerse himself in the power of the Yuanjiang River.

……

In the blink of an eye, Li Chengming had been cultivating by the Yuanjiang River for a month.

During that month, he stayed almost constantly by that reef, practicing his internal energy cultivation day and night, using the power of the Yuanjiang River to break through the bottleneck in the late stage of Qi Refining.

As the sun rises and sets, and the tides ebb and flow on the river, his aura also rises day by day.

That evening, the setting sun dyed the river surface a golden red, and Li Chengming suddenly opened his eyes.

His aura fluctuated violently at this moment, and the spiritual power within his body surged like a rushing river, madly rushing towards that pass.

Click!

It looked like something had broken.

The spiritual energy surged into the new meridians like water bursting its banks, forming an even larger cycle within the body.

Qi Refining Level 7.

Late stage of Qi Refining.

Li Chengming let out a long breath, feeling refreshed as if a heavy shackle had been removed.

He stood up, made a hand seal, and the water surface rippled, slowly rising and condensing, instantly forming a three-zhang-long water snake. The water snake circled around Li Chengming, lifelike.

"Next, let's try walking on air."

Li Chengming took a deep breath, then mobilized his magical power, and his figure slowly rose into the air, appearing above the river.

"Is this what it means to walk on air?"

Seeing himself soaring into the sky, Li Chengming was immediately excited and filled with a sense of pride. He then waved his robes, and several water snakes rose from the water's surface once more.

Li Chengming followed the course of the river, accompanied by water snakes, which was quite intimidating.

After flying for a while, Li Chengming slowly landed, thinking to himself:

"Although I have broken through to the late stage of Qi Refining, I still need to consolidate my progress."

So he sat cross-legged on the reef once more.

……

A few more days passed.

Early that morning, a thick fog rolled in on the river, reducing visibility to less than ten feet.

Li Chengming suddenly heard the sound of fighting coming from afar.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw several figures chasing each other on the river, with flashes of light and surging waves, clearly engaged in a magical battle.

Li Chengming didn't want to get involved and was about to leave when he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"The Zhou family, you've gone too far!"

Li Chengming paused, recognizing the voice.

It is Zhao Yuan.

He frowned, hesitated for a moment, but still rushed towards the direction of the fight.

On the river, a small boat is speeding away, with two people standing on it.

One was Zhao Yuan, and the other was a face he didn't recognize, a Qi Refining Level 4 cultivator with a pale face, clearly injured.

Behind them, three mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators were hot on their heels.

The person in the lead was the young cultivator who had taken fifty spirit stones from him half a month ago.

"Fellow Daoist, you can't escape."

The young cultivator spoke casually, making a hand seal. Several water arrows surged from the water's surface and shot towards the small boat.

Zhao Yuan gritted his teeth and erected a spiritual energy shield, blocking several water arrows, but the small boat was violently rocked by the waves, and its speed obviously slowed down.

"I have no grudge against your Zhou family, why are you so relentlessly pressuring me?" Zhao Yuan said angrily.

"This Yuanjiang River is the territory of my Zhou family. You have trespassed without permission, so I naturally have to ask you for an explanation," Zhou Xian chuckled.

"I was just passing through and had no intention of offending anyone..."

"Why say any more? You're not leaving today!"

"Take him down."

Zhou Xian waved his hand, "Take him back to the clan and let the clan leader decide his fate."

Upon hearing this, the two cultivators attacked simultaneously, sending two beams of spiritual light hurtling towards Zhao Yuan.

Zhao Yuanxiu was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, which was comparable to Zhou Xian, but the enemy had a large number of people and he also had to protect his injured colleagues behind him, so he was simply unable to resist.

Just as he was about to be captured, a white light suddenly shot out from the river and headed straight for Zhou Xian's face.

Zhou Xian's expression changed, and he hurriedly dodged to the side. The white light flew past his cheek, cutting off a few strands of his hair.

"Who?"